Nikola Badger electric pickup makes a comeback in the most hilarious way
The Nikola Badger electric pickup, one of the biggest blunders in the history of the EV space, is making a comeback in the most hilarious way: through a Youtuber friend of convicted felon Trevor Milton.
There have been blunders in the EV spaces over the years, and GM has been involved with a few of them.
Arguably, the Nikola Badger is one of the biggest ones because it helped push Nikola Motors’ market cap to a ridiculous $20 billion before getting completely wiped out.
Shortly after Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck, Nikola announced its plans for the Badger with a battery/fuel-cell hybrid powertrain enabling 600 miles of range, 0-60 mph acceleration in 2.9 seconds, and released a few renders.
Like most things Nikola, we didn’t take the project too seriously, but a few months later, GM was announced as a partner in the Badger program.
However, the partnership didn’t last long as Nikola and its CEO at the time, Trevor Milton, were exposed for misleading investors about many aspects of their business, especially the technology in its battery and hydrogen semi trucks.
Milton left the company and was later convicted for fraud. Nikola settled for $125 million with the SEC for the allegations of misleading investors.
GM finally realized who they were in business with and terminated their partnership for the Badger program, which Nikola ended killing to focus on its semi trucks amid all the controversy and its stock crashing from a $20 billion valuation to a less than $1 billion valuation.
The Nikola Badger is back
Now, David Sparks, better known as Heavy D Sparks on Youtube and on his Discovery show Diesel Brothers, is bringing the Badger back.
In a new video, Sparks announced that he bought the vehicle program and intellectual property for the Nikola Badger, NZT (electric UTV), and Waverunner (electric watercraft) with plans to bring the vehicles to the market:
When he was still in charge of Nikola, Milton hired the Diesel Brothers to promote the Badger. They were giving what could have been an extremely lucrative deal if the vehicle had become a reality.
They stand to get 2 million shares for promoting the truck, which was worth as much as $140 million at the peak valuation of the company.
At the time, it was not only a potentially lucrative deal for the Diesel Brothers, but it was also good for them to be associated with a zero-emission vehicle as they had recently been fined $850,000 by a Federal Judge who determined they had violated the Clean Air Act on hundreds of occasions.
In the video announcing that the “Badger is real”, Sparks describes Milton as a “longtime friend” and starts out by defending him and questioning the prosecution in his fraud case despite the mountain of evidence that he misled shareholders.
He then claims that over the last 3 years, he and his partner Cole Cannon have been working with Nikola to acquire the Badger program, and they finally were able to close the deal worth “tens of millions”. According to Sparks, Nikola is a “minority partner” in the new company they are creating to continue the Badger program.
The deal came with the only two prototypes that were produced. Sparks claimed that the trucks are mostly custom-made by Nikola, though it is still only a battery-electric vehicle and not a full fuel cell-battery hybrid powertrain.
He didn’t go into detail about his plan to bring the vehicle to market, but he said that everything is going to be documented on his YouTube channel.
Electrek’s Take
This gave me a good laugh today. Who is going to trust this guy to bring the Badger to market after he claims that Milton did nothing wrong? It’s quite funny.
Also, one thing that isn’t clear in this whole thing is Milton’s involvement. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find that he is involved. After all, Milton is still trying to gain control over Nikola and tried to get 5 people elected to Nikola’s board, including Sparks himself, who said that he wanted to bring back the entrepreneurial spirit (aka lying) of the Milton era to Nikola if he was elected.
To be honest, I was more excited about the fact that he also acquired the electric UTV property, which I always thought was Nikola’s best product even though it was built mainly by Bosch, but he said that he won’t touch the UTV for now because he has a deal with Polaris.
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A new, all electric Peterbilt 579EV is in-service at Honda’s Lincoln, Alabama assembly plant, where it’s busy transporting newly-built Honda cars from the plant to a nearby railhead for shipment to dealers across the country.
Part of a pilot program between Honda, Alabama Power, and Virginia Transportation Corp., the new electric semi truck will help stakeholders gather data about the practicality and performance of the battery-powered Pete and use it to generate case studies for broader electrification initiatives. Other supporters of the pilot project include the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition and, of course, Peterbilt.
“We remain committed to delivering for our customers and the environment,” offered Leo Doire, owner and CEO of Virginia Transportation Corp. “Our new Peterbilt 579EV model will be tested to determine how well it performs against the high productivity demands of our operations. The partners we have at the table will help us maximize this opportunity and prepare to scale up if we get the results we are hoping for.”
The truck itself has been spec’ed to be perfect for the kind of short haul and drayage applications Honda has in mind. This particular Peterbilt 579EV is fitted with PACCAR’s 400 kWh battery and a 670 hp electric motor good for an impressive 2,050 lb-ft of peak torque at 0 rpm.
The truck offers 150 miles of operating range and can be charged in about 3 hours on a 120 kW charger installed specifically for that purpose. A charger, it should be noted, that was partially paid for by Alabama Power.
“Alabama Power’s ‘Make Ready’ program provides businesses with valuable rebates to help reduce the upfront costs of installing EV infrastructure,” says Alabama Power Electric Transportation Manager Hasin Gandhakwala. “We are committed to partnering with customers who are exploring state and federal grant opportunities. Alabama Power is dedicated to advancing EV technologies to better serve the needs of our customers.”
The electric semi is a continuation of a decarbonization project Honda initiated in 2011, when the company recruited Virginia Transport Corp. to help find ways to reduce emissions at its Alabama facilities. VTC’s efforts have led to changes that displaced more than 475,000 gallons of diesel in 2023 alone.
Electrek’s Take
With the big Pete’s 82,000 lb. GVWR and 150 miles of range between charging sessions, it seems like these guys will be making a lot of back-and-forth runs between the Honda plant and the CSX terminal to me. Here’s hoping they see the benefits of electrifying the rest of their vehicle transport fleets somewhat sooner than later.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Alabama Power.
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On today’s episode of Quick Charge, we’ve got big solar breaking ground all over, despite the incoming administration’s supposed lack of love for home-grown clean energy. Our guests today walk us through home solar, energy storage, and more.
Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations sitewide. Learn more by clicking here.
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Read more: Saldivar’s Trucking: first owner-operator to deploy Volvo VNR Electric semi.
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Tesla is now using ‘Tesla Electric’, its electric utility service in Texas, to help sell cars with a new incentive.
After gaining experience through its virtual power plants (VPPs), Tesla took things a step further with the launch of “Tesla Electric” back in 2022.
Instead of reacting to specific “events” and providing services to your local electric utilities, as Tesla Powerwall owners have done in VPPs in California, Australia, and a few other markets, Tesla Electric is actively and automatically buying and selling electricity for Tesla Powerwall owners – providing a buffer against peak prices.
The company is essentially becoming an energy retailer.
Tesla Electric is currently only available to Powerwall owners in Texas and the UK, but the company has plans to expand its products through this new division.
The company has been growing its Tesla Electric userbase in Texas and now it plans to use it to help sell cars.
Tesla has two different plans under the program:
| Feature | Tesla Electric Fixed Plan | Tesla Electric Dynamic Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Structure | Competitive fixed rate for electricity, with a discounted rate during low-cost hours. | Competitive variable rate, with higher rates during peak demand periods. |
| Contract Term | 12-month commitment. | Month-to-month flexibility. |
| Unlimited Vehicle Charging | Available for an additional $15/month per vehicle, allowing unlimited charging. | Available for an additional $25/month per vehicle, allowing unlimited charging. |
| Powerwall Credits | Earn $400 credit per year per Powerwall by participating in the Tesla Virtual Power Plant, with Tesla managing the Powerwall to share energy with the grid when needed. | Earn $120 credit per year per Powerwall by participating in the Tesla Virtual Power Plant, with the customer managing the Powerwall to optimize earnings. |
| Energy Sharing with Grid | Sell energy back to the grid at a fixed rate per kWh. | Sell energy back to the grid at 90% of the real-time market price per kWh. |
The first one enable you to charge your electric car for just $15 a month.
With this new incentive, Tesla is brining that down to $5 a month for a year for people who take delivery by the end of the year:
Get $5/mo Unlimited Overnight Charging With Tesla
To get unlimited overnight charging for $5 per month per vehicle for a full year, you must complete the following steps by December 31, 2024:
- Order and take delivery of a new Tesla vehicle
- Sign up for the Tesla Electric Fixed Plan
To be eligible, you need to live in an area of Texas that allows you to choose your electricity provider, be a new Tesla Electric member and take delivery of a new Tesla vehicle. Promotion is subject to change at any time.
This appear to be part of Tesla’s effort to deliver a record number of more than 515,000 vehicles in Q4 in order for its annual deliveries not to be down for the full year.
ver the last few weeks, we have been reporting on a series of sale incentives that Tesla has put in place to make sure it has the demand to achieve this record quarter.
In Europe, it includes a year of free Supercharging and heavy discounts.
In the US, there are also good inventory discounts, 3 months of free Supercharger and FSD, FSD transfer, and more.
And everywhere, Tesla is heavily subsidizing loans with lower interest rates.
But it’s the first time that Tesla is using such a targeted incentive, at the state level, and using its Tesla Electric program.
It’s interesting.
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